Perpetual calendars

ABSTRACT

A device for determining and displaying the calendar for ANY month of ANY year of ANY century, the novelty and essence of which reside in avoiding any separation of Leap from Common YEARS (thereby eliminating the necessity for TWO Januaries and Februaries (one for leap, and one for common, years)), and, instead, segregating pre-March, from post-February MONTHS. This necessitates a DIFFERENT year pattern for each of these two separate month groups. Each of these two sections consists of a face and two positionable members. The face has three windows or the like, and, at one of them, the seven week-day names, while the positionable members have, in one type: months and centuries on one, and years and calendar on the other, and in another type: months and years on one and centuries and calendar on the other. Month names and calendar are necessarily always on different positionable members, as are centuries and years. The desired month is set at one window, thereby fixing the century (or year) numerals in position; then the desired year (or century) is aligned with the desired previously positioned century (or year), thereby revealing in the second individual window the correct calendar for that setting, the century and year both appearing in a common (third) window. The same calendar is, of course, correct for every other so linked century-year combination. A mistake, due to not knowing whether a given year is, or is not, a leap year, is impossible with this perpetual calendar.

United States Patent [1 1 Zeiske Sept. 4, 1973 1 PERPETUAL CALENDARS[76] Inventor: Arnold Ernst Zeiske, 6151 Palo Pinto Ave., Dallas, Tex.75214 22 Filed: Nov. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 199,864

[52] US. Cl. 40/109 [51] Int. Cl. G09d 3/04 [58] Field of Search 40/107,109, 110

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,789,763 4/1957 Renaudin40/109 3,166,862 1/1965 Jaickles 40/109 3,201,884 8/1965 Aughey 40/1093,427,740 2/1969 Heskes 40/109 3,605,307 9/1971 Dickson 40/109 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 719,946 2/1932 France 40/109 PrimaryExaminerRobert W. Michell Assistant Examiner.lohn H. Wolff [57] ABSTRACTA device for determining and displaying the calendar for ANY month ofANY year of ANY century, the novelty and essence of which reside inavoiding any separation of Leap from Common YEARS [thereby eliminatingthe necessity for TWO Januaries and Februaries (one for leap, and onefor common, years)], and, instead, segregating pre-March, frompost-February MONTHS. This necessitates a DIFFERENT year pattern foreach of these two separate month groups. Each of these two sectionsconsists of a face and two positionable members. The face has threewindows or the like, and, at one of them, the seven week-day names,while the positionable members have, in one type: months and centurieson one, and years and calendar on the other, and in another type: monthsand years on one and centuries and calendar on the other. Month namesand calendar are necessarily always on different positionable members,as are centuries and years. The desired month is set at one window,thereby fixing the century (or year) numerals in position; then thedesired year (or century) is aligned with the desired previouslypositioned century (or year), thereby revealing in the second individualwindow the correct calendar for that setting, the century and year bothappearing in a common (third) window. The same calendar is, of course,correct for every other so linked century-year combination. A mistake,due to not knowing whether a given year is, or is not, a leap year, isimpossible with this perpetual calendar.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures slmltlwlrlF Is luv s MITIWITIIFIS PERPETUALCALENDARS This invention relates to calendars, and, more specifically,to perpetual or permanent calendars.

The specific objects of the present invention are to.

provide a calendar which:

1. is a month-calendar instead of either a full-year calendar, or, onthe other hand, only a single-day calculator, co-ordinator or computerdesigned to correlate only a single specific month-date with thecorresponding day of the week;

2. is truly perpetual in that it can be set instantly to reveal thecorrect month-date/week-day correlation for any month whatever past,present or future;

3. is direct-reading, dispensing entirely with any and all Dominical orother key, code or other symbols, letters, numbers, or the like, or anyother intermediate means whatever, as well as with the necessity, in theprocess of using the device, of making calculations, or invoking anymemory work while doing so;

4. is automatically correct for the particular month and full four-digityear designation upon which it is set, regardless of whether the year isor is not, or is or is not known or shown to be, a leap year;

5. displays such month and full 4-digit year designation in itsentirety;

6. provides, at the same time, for the compact display, simultaneouslywith the display of such particular full four-digit year designation, ofALL the other full four-digit year designations for which the calendarfor the month revealed and displayed is also the correct calendar;

7. is unequivocal, in that only one January and February setting ispossible, thus making it impossible to see an incorrect calendar for themonth name designation visibly displayed, user not having to knowwhether a given year is, or is not, a leap year, the differentiationbeing built into the device itself; there is only one way to set anygiven month.

The fundamental principles upon which the invention is based, are:

a. Complete separation of the pre-March from the post-February months;

b. The provision, for the pre-March months, of a year-pattern differentfrom that which applies to the post-February months, based upon theconcept of the discovery that, by regarding the year XYOO" as the yearfollowing the year (XY U99," instead of as the year preceding the yearXYOl a different pattern is necessitated from that which is applicableto the post- February months, and that by the introduction of thispattern for those two months, the correct calendar for a January or aFebruary can be determined without resorting to the indefinitenessarising out of having to have TWO .lanuaries and TWO F ebruaries(depending upon whether it is or is not a leap year which is involved)between which a choice must be made on the basis of pre-lrnowledge ofwhether the year is, or is not, a leap year, in order to set itcorrectly, a feature with respect to which even the most erudite scholarcan make a mistake, even while SEEING the correct year number and thecorrect month name exposed.

The structure of one embodiment of the device of which the inventionconsists, and its operation, are described and explained concurrentlywith the references to the Drawing.

In The drawing,

FIG. I represents the body structure of one embodi' ment having twofaces side-by-side;

FlGS. II and IV represent the two positionable elements, each, in thisembodiment, having one face, for determining, at one of the faces of thebody structure of FIG. I, the calendar for any post-February month,while FIGS. III and V represent two more single-faced positionableelements which, in co-operation with the other face of the bodystructure, determine the calendar for any pre-March month.

The protruding tabs or tongues, 17, of the positionable elements, 6, and7, are threaded, from the back, thru the respective appropriatesupporting and guiding slots, 10, of FIG. I, to expose portions of suchpositionable elements at the viewing areas, 3, 4 and 5, of FIG. I. Inoperation, positionable element, 6, is slid, by means of the appropriatesupporting, constraining and guiding slots, 10, so as to expose, inviewing area, 3, of face, 2, of the body structure, 1, the particularone of the group of month names, 11 (12,), for which the calendar isdesired; this places indicia group of century numerals, 13, on the sameface, 8, of element 6, in a fixed position in third viewing area, 5;positionable element, 7, is then slid, by means of other supportingslots, 10, so as to align desired year numerals, l4 (15), on its face,9, in same vertical column with desired, already positioned, centurynumerals, 113, thus fixedly positioning day numerals, 16, constitutingthe desired calendar, in second viewing area, 4, below the week-dayspecifying means, 10, for positioning mo nth dates in correctcorrelation with such days of the week.

The drawing depicts one type in which the month names and centurynumerals are the two indicia groups on one positionable element, andyear numerals and day numerals the two indicia groups on the other, ineach of the two (post-February and pre-March) sections. In another typethe paired indicia groups are: month names and year numerals on one, andcentury numerals and day numerals on the other positionable element ineach of the two sections named, represented by (in this embodiment) theleft and right faces and corresponding positionable elements; in otherembodiments, instead of left and right faces, the body structure canobviously have front and back faces, and in still other embodiments oneface can be designed to serve for both such sections. The essentialprinciple, as can be seen, is, of course, that month names and calendarnumerals must always be on different positionable elements, andsimilarly, century numerals and year numerals must always be ondifferent positionable elements, thus giving rise to two possiblecombinations of indicia groups which can be on the same positionableelement. Moreover, month names and year numerals appertaining to thepost-February section must both be operably segregated from thepre-March section with its applicable month-name and year-numeralindicia groups.

Since the indicia group representative of centuries, and thatrepresentative of day numerals can be, and in this embodiment are,respectively identical in the two (pre-March and post-February)sections, it is obvious that, in the type which incorporates these twoindicia groups on one and the same face of the same positionableelement, there can be ari embodiment wherein one of the positionableelements has only one face, such face cooperating with both faces ofanother positionable element, or of other positionable elements, andwith the face, or one of the faces, of the body structure. In otherembodiments, the faces do not even have to be planar, and thepositioning does not have to be translational; the body structure andpositionable elements can be curved, nested, cylindrical, conical,coaxial, disk-like, or of any other physical shape, and the positioningcan be rotational circular, foldable, or accomplished in any othermanner which conforms with the principles upon which patentable noveltyis predicated, as stated earlier herein.

Having thus disclosed and described my invention in complete detail,both as to the structure and as to the operation, as supported in boththe specification and in the drawing, I claim:

1. A perpetual calendar comprising a body structure having at least oneface, each such face embracing three viewing areas; a plurality ofpositionable elements, each having at least one face; means on said bodystructure for adjustably supporting and positioning said positionableelements so that portions of said faces of said positionable elementscan be selectively exposed at said viewing areas; each positionableelement having two separate groups of indicia on each of its faces, saidindicia groups being arranged so that a first group of indicia on a faceof one of said positionable elements is selectively. exposed at a firstviewing area of a face of the body structure, a first group of indiciaon a face of another one of said positionable elements is selectivelyexposed at a second viewing area of said face of the body structure, anda second group of indicia on each of said faces of said two abovementioned positionable elements is exposed jointly at a third viewingarea of said face of the body structure;

the first and second groups of indicia on a face of one of the pluralityof positionable elements designating: (1) the names of all post-Februarymonths and (2) numerals representative of centuries, respectively,

and the first and second groups of indicia on a face of another one ofthe plurality of positionable elements designating numeralsrepresentative of: (l)

days of a month and (2) all the one hundred years 00 through 99inclusive, so that the independent positioning of each of said twopositionable elements selectively reveals a perpetual calendarcomprising century and year numerals, at least one post-February monthname, and day numerals; the first and second groups of indicia on afurther face of one of the plurality of positionable elementsdesignating: (l) the names of the two pre-March months and (2) numeralsrepresentative of centuries, respectively, and the first and secondgroups of indicia on a further face of another one of the plurality ofpositionable elements designating numerals representative of: (1) daysof a month and (2) all the one hundred years 01 through 100 inclusive,so that the independent positioning of each of said two positionableelements selectively reveals a perpetual calendar comprising century andyear numerals, at least one pre-March month name, and day numerals. 2.The perpetual calendar set forth in claim 1 wherein the first and secondgroups of indicia on a face of one of the plurality of positionableelements designates: (l) the names of all 10 post-February months and(2) numerals representative of the one hundred years 00 through 99,inclusive,

and the first and second groups of indicia on a face of another one ofthe plurality of positionable elements designates numeralsrepresentative of: (l) centuries and (2) days of a month, respectively;and wherein the first and second groups of indicia on a further face ofone of the plurality of positionable elements designates: (l the namesof the two pre- March months and 2) numerals representative of all theone hundred years 01 through 100, inclusive, and the first and secondgroups of indicia on a face of another one of the plurality ofpositionable elements designates numerals representative of: l)

centuries and (2) days of a month, respectively.

1. A perpetual calendar comprising a body structure having at least oneface, each such face embracing three viewing areas; a plurality ofpositionable elements, each having at least one face; means on said bodystructure for adjustably supporting and positioning said positionableelements so that portions of said faces of said positionable elementscan be selectively exposed at said viewing areas; each positionableelement having two separate groups of indicia on each of its faces, saidindicia groups being arranged so that a first group of indicia on a faceof one of said positionable elements is selectively exposed at a firstviewing area of a face of the body structure, a first group of indiciaon a face of another one of said positionable elements is selectivelyexposed at a second viewing area of said face of the body structure, anda second group of indicia on each of said faces of said two abovementioned positionable elements is exposed jointly at a third viewingarea of said face of the body structure; the first and second groups ofindicia on a face of one of the plurality of positionable elementsdesignating: (1) the names of all 10 post-February months and (2)numerals representative of centuries, respectively, and the first andsecond groups of indicia on a face of another one of the plurality ofpositionable elements designating numerals representative of: (1) daysof a month and (2) all the one hundred years 00 through 99 inclusive, sothat the independent positioning of each of said two positionableelements selectively reveals a perpetual calendar comprising century andyear numerals, at least one postFebruary month name, and day numerals;the first and second groups of indicia on a further face of one of theplurality of positionable elements designating: (1) the names of the twopre-March months and (2) numerals representative of centuries,respectively, and the first and second groups of indicia on a furtherface of another one of the plurality of positionable elementsdesignating numerals representative of: (1) days of a month and (2) allthe one hundred years 01 through 100 inclusive, so that the independentpositioning of each of said two positionable elements selectivelyreveals a perpetual calendar comprising century and year numerals, atleast one pre-March month name, and day numerals.
 2. The peRpetualcalendar set forth in claim 1 wherein the first and second groups ofindicia on a face of one of the plurality of positionable elementsdesignates: (1) the names of all 10 post-February months and (2)numerals representative of the one hundred years 00 through 99,inclusive, and the first and second groups of indicia on a face ofanother one of the plurality of positionable elements designatesnumerals representative of: (1) centuries and (2) days of a month,respectively; and wherein the first and second groups of indicia on afurther face of one of the plurality of positionable elementsdesignates: (1) the names of the two pre-March months and (2) numeralsrepresentative of all the one hundred years 01 through 100, inclusive,and the first and second groups of indicia on a face of another one ofthe plurality of positionable elements designates numeralsrepresentative of: (1) centuries and (2) days of a month, respectively.